Marks & Spencer Makes It Matter with Medical Detection Dogs

As part of their Make It Matter Day (1 June), Marks & Spencer committed to support M&S colleagues in delivering one million hours of community volunteering by 2025, to help make a difference to the projects and initiatives that matter in the communities it serves.

M&S Amersham staff kick started the volunteering during National Volunteers Week (1-10 June) by taking part in a gardening project for the Medical Detection Dogs charity in their memorial gardens, Great Horwood.

The M&S Amersham Volunteer group, working with a team from the Medical Detection Dogs, the charity that trains dogs to identify human disease by odour, designed the garden so loved ones can have a special place to remember those who have passed away.

Nationwide, employees in every M&S store joined their colleagues in helping to transform local projects that make a real difference. In total, over 50,000 colleagues supported more than 500 community projects across the breadth of the UK. Make it Matter is part of the recently launched M&S campaign ‘#SpenditWell’, which is about inspiring people to make every moment special by focusing on the experiences, people and things that matter in life.

Neil Taylor, Store Manager of M&S Amersham “We’re really excited to be coming together to support the memorial garden project. Volunteering can make a profound difference to the communities in which we live, work and play – we believe that lots of the small actions from lots of people, can collectively have a huge impact. We can’t wait to get started.”

Francesca Hockham, Fundraising Manager for the Medical Detection Dogs charity “The volunteers have cleared the garden area of overgrown shrubs and really opened up the area so it’s now light and bright. The volunteers working with my team have put a lot of thought into what should go into the garden to make a lovely calming place to visit and spend some time reflecting on their loved ones. “